No Pokémon Presents: Game Freak has changed its marketing strategy, and to return to talk about the ninth generation after having unveiled it about three months ago, at the end of February, it has simply chosen to release a new trailer thus revealing new creatures (including the legendaries on the cover), two new professors (exactly, one different for each version), some game mechanics and even the date of launch: Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet will arrive on Nintendo Switch on Friday November 18, 2022and it is already possible to pre-order them.
NEW POKMON, LEGENDARY AND NOT
But let’s proceed in order, and briefly analyze the main information that comes to us from the trailer, starting from the clearest ones up to those that require some more deductive effort. In total, five new Pokémon appear in the video in addition to the three starters (Sprigatito, Fuecoco and Quaxly) of which we see the polygonal models for the first time, but which had already been revealed for some time. The unedited creatures are what the “regional Pikachu” looks like, that is Pawmithe black pig Lechonk and the little olive Smoliv.
Together with them make their appearance, with the now classic expedient of a dedicated CGI movie, also the two legendary Pokémon that we will find on the covers of the games: Koraidon and Miraidon. We have a few more secrets to reveal to you: if you want to read them immediately, click HERE.
OPEN WORLD AND CO-OP
Curiously, we still ignore the name of the region, which we have known for some time now to be inspired by the Iberian Peninsula. The emphasis again this time falls on the exploratory component of what it promises to be a real open worldand we also discover that there will be one cooperative mode for up to four players. The description that we find on the official website (you can reach it by following the link in the SOURCE) helps us to better contextualize:
You will be able to dive into a new kind of adventure within a world to be explored freely, without the obligation to follow a precise order dictated by history. In addition to the journey you will take to hone your Pokémon training skills, many other discoveries and new stories await you as well. Meet people and Pokémon of all kinds and experience your adventure in the world of Pokémon in the way you prefer.
In Pokémon Scarlet And Pokémon Violet, up to four people can play together. In addition to the already known features of the series, such as Pokémon trading and battles, in these games you can explore the region with your friends. You will be able to meet new Pokémon and explore areas never seen before in company, for an adventure more fun than ever!
In short, apparently Game Freak has really studied a formula different from the linear progression that has always characterized the series, since explicit reference is made to a world of “explore freely“, without constraints dictated by narrative needs (and thank goodness, also because the story is normally a very weak point of the franchise).
In all of this, a structure similar to one also appears in the trailer gym, which seems to be located at the top of a very high mill / tower and divided into three sections. The towers in the open world they are a classic game design solution, since they are structures that are clearly visible on the horizon even from a distance, and which therefore constitute an easily recognizable point of interest for orienting the player.
We can therefore think that by solving probably more “tests” than the simple fight with the gym leader (which could constitute the last stage of the challenge) the player will be able to obtain, in addition to the equivalent of the canonical medals, also the map of a certain area of the region. Final gem: the logo of the “League” of the new region is halfway between a Poké Ball and a caravel or a sailing ship, to underline the link with the colonial tradition of Spain and Portugal.
LEGENDARS OR MOTORCYCLES?
Of the new legendaries Koraidon And Miraidon Nothing has yet been revealed other than the appearance and name. But those who follow the leak scene know very well that the famous Riddler Khu after what we have seen today it can be considered even more reliable. And therefore we probably know a little more about the legendaries than what Game Freak told us.
But let’s start with the official information first. Koraidon and Miraidon are two names that confirm the numerous speculations that have emerged in recent months on the central theme of the two games, linked to the contrast between past and future. And in fact “Korai” and “Mirai” mean respectively “ancient” And “future“in Japanese – and the theme is repeated in the name of the two professors, who in Italian are Olim (Latin adverb meaning” once “,” once “) and Turum (abbreviation always from the Latin” futurum “, that is “future”).
That’s all? Of course not: the two names, in fact, also suggest the English formula “laughs on“, and that is to ride. And since the Riddler Khu with his riddles on Twitter he had amply indicated that the legendaries would have been rideable, the names sound like confirmation: in an open world, after all, it would make a lot of sense. On the other hand, just look carefully at the design of the two Pokémon to understand that they will probably be able to take the form of vehicles, with the central part that clearly recalls a wheel, and the grips that can act as handlebars: take a look at the images below to understand better.
What we see, however, may not be their only form: the Riddler Khu in fact he also hinted that Koraidon and Miraidon could take on different forms according to the different types of displacement (in air, in water, in lava, perhaps even in time and so on). However, the basic typing of the two Pokémon should be Dragon-Fight for Koraidon and Dragon-Electric for Muraidon.
NEW GIMMICK: A MYSTERIOUS CLUE
And speaking of types: the information on the games is still few, but in particular there is still an important piece that Game Freak has decided not to reveal in the trailer: we are talking about the gimmick generationalor the heir of the (terrible, competitively speaking) phenomenon Dynamax of Galar, of the Z-Moves of Alola and of the Mega Evolution of Kalos.
The video ends with what seems to be a mysterious allusion to the new gimmick, showing a short sequence in CGI where a Poké Ball crosses a space composed of many reflective crystals that in shape resemble the scales that cover the body of the two dragons and also the college tome-style cover of the two games. On this issue too, the Riddler Khu he spoke months ago, going straight to the point and talking about “third type“That this is a mechanic linked to the change or the addition of types can also be deduced from how this aspect is emphasized in the glimpses of the region that we have seen, and in particular in the square of the big city seen in the first trailer.
